Nutritional Influences on the Health of Women and Children in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique: A Qualitative Study.

Adelaide Lusambili,Sofia Jadavji,Violet Naanyu,Lindsay Mossman,Stefania Wisofschi,Jerim Obure,Gibson Manda,Rachel Pell,Marleen Temmerman

doi:10.3390/ijerph17176205

Abstract

In 2017, the Government of Mozambique declared localized acute malnutrition crises in a range of districts across Mozambique including Cabo Delgado. This is in spite of intensive efforts by different non-governmental organizations (NGO) and the Government of Mozambique to expand access to information on good nutritional practices as well as promote nutrition-specific interventions, such as cooking demonstrations, home gardens and the distribution of micronutrient powder to children. This paper examines and discusses key nutritional influences on the health of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique. We conducted 21 key informant interviews (KIIs) with a wide range of stakeholders and 16 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with women. In addition, we conducted four focus group discussions with each of the following groups: (1) pregnant adolescent girls, (2) pregnant women >20 yrs, (3) women >20 yrs with babies <6 mths who were not practicing exclusive breastfeeding, (4) women >20 yrs of children <2 yrs and (5) with fathers of children <2 yrs. Data were analyzed thematically using NVIVO software. There is no single widely held influence on pregnant and breast-feeding women’s nutritional decision-making, choices and food consumption. Rather, variables such as social-cultural, environmental, economic, gender, knowledge and information intersect in their roles in nutritional food choices.

Highlights

In early 2017, the Government of Mozambique declared localized acute malnutrition crises in a range of districts across Mozambique, including the Cabo Delgado province. This is despite intensive efforts by different non-governmental organizations ([NGO)] and the Government of Mozambique to expand access to information on good nutritional practices as well as promote nutrition-specific interventions, such as cooking demonstrations, home gardens and the distribution of micronutrient powder to children less than 2 years of age. It is upon this backdrop that we conducted this research to understand how socio-cultural factors, including those linked to gender dynamics, might influence nutrition practices for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and their children
Certain food taboos for pregnant and breastfeeding women and infant children exist, no beliefs about foods as appropriate or inappropriate were widely held across the study region
The following themes summarize nutritional influences on the health of women and young children in Cabo Delgado, as gleaned from interviews conducted during this study

Summary

Introduction

Malnutrition is a global public health concern and every country of the world has a malnutrition problem irrespective of its wealth [1]. Evidence indicates that 1 in 5 children are stunted and 15.9 million are stunted and wasted [1,2,3,4,5]. Evidence shows that diets of children and infants are sub-optimal in both high and low-income countries [3,4]. Many countries have geographical areas where the majority of the populations cannot afford nutritious diets [2]. An estimated 11% of total disease burden is directly attributed to poor nutrition among pregnant women, mothers and their children [2]. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 6205; doi:10.3390/ijerph17176205 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion